A Tailor's Tale
by Kuranoir
Summary: Noel, a fashion designer that has yet to make a name for himself in the industry, loses custody of his younger brother as he couldn't support the both of them. When he is given a chance to start a tailor shop in Stardew Valley, he takes it, but... it's daunting to start a new life with no guarantee for success. Love? He doesn't have time for that, right? Farmer/OCxOC (MxM included)


There is a dark side to the fashion industry. It's something that many in the world don't know about, nor care. But any new starry-eyed fashion designer, fresh with new ideas and ready to establish a brand for themselves, are told immediately by professionals that this industry is an absolutely hellish nightmare to work in and will have no mercy at all.

Noel couldn't agree more with them. Working long hours and overtime without any pay (or very little) for months and often years is too much for him and his fellow interns. The "honor" associated with working with a "big name" is pay enough in the minds of the suits since it would look good on a resume, but this mentality is devastating. Why continue to work for bigger brands when the experience would be the same regardless? More and more designers are dissatisfied that they are barely scraping by while the multi million dollar companies continue to profit billions off of them, but any job strikes will have no chance because it's simply the standard now. The biggest participants of this cruelty? Those companies that sign an exclusive contract with Joja Corporation.

Ever since Noel's employers have signed that deal, the studio consisting of mostly interns are constantly measuring, drawing, and slapping together articles of clothing as fast as they could to meet the quota that Joja set for them. Or in this case, at least a hundred everyday. With each passing day, Noel is pushed closer to the edge of a steep cliff, ready to just let himself fall and be done with everything.

But there is something he is doing all of this for. For someone important in his family. He couldn't let them down, even if it it's all for a very tiny paycheck.

Noel sighs as he slams his head against the desk in frustration. He hasn't been able to come up with a new design for a couple of hours. He knew he was holding his team back and he has realized that they couldn't wait any longer. But there were others like him with their cries of agony and screams of frustration filling the room. A typical day at the job.

"NOEL! WHERE THE HELL IS THAT DESIGN THAT YOU PROMISED ME THIS MORNING?!" Noel instantly jolted up to meet with bloodshot eyes. He screams in surprise and falls onto the floor.

He rubs his sweaty forehead and lets out a puff of hair to try getting a red bang away from his left eye. "I-I'm almost done, Charlotte!"

Charlotte snatches the large roll of paper from his desk and looks through his "design". "THERE'S NOTHING HERE?! Oh my god, WE ARE GOING TO DIE."

"Sorry! I'm stuck in artist's block!" Noel apologizes to his fellow intern. Charlotte is the one responsible for getting the materials required to make the outfits for the studio. She could not do her job without getting the designs and the correct measurements from the designers. He felt much pity for her since most of his fellow designers were behind with their workload as well. It just so happened that his and a couple of others' designs are up on the chopping block for today.

"NO EXCUSES! Oh Yoba, may you have mercy on our poor souls or we will be brutally murdered alive!"

"Give me a day! One more!" Noel begs in the hopes of getting a more lenient punishment.

"Like the other slackers in here?!" Charlotte growls. "You better be done tomorrow," she threatens while innocently smiling, but Noel feels a chill run down his spine. No, scratch that, his _entire_ body freezes in fear. When this side of hers shows, it means that the recipient is in serious trouble. In this case, he is most definitely screwed if he didn't pass her the design tomorrow.

She huffs and leaves the room. Every other intern stared at him, so much so that he had to hide his face behind large sheets of paper from embarrassment. Hopefully whoever would receive Charlotte's wrath next would be spared or have their design done.

That thought is shortly thrown out the window as he heard more of her screeching in another room. May Yoba have mercy on that poor person's eardrums. He knew that he really should buy those earplugs soon.

* * *

Noel let out a sigh of relief as he sunk into his chair. He was finally done by some miracle. Though he had to work overtime, like always. Regardless he finally finished and he couldn't be happier to finally be done for the day.

He rolls up a long sheet of paper into a cylinder and ties it shut with an elastic. Noel scribbles his name with a black marker and places his day's work near a mountain of paper cylinders. He looks back over to his shoulder to see some of his co-workers still working. Pity slowly creeps into his mind, but he quickly brushes it away. He just wanted to go home and sleep through his troubles. Before he could change his mind, he threw on his jacket and off he went to his apartment.

He didn't have much. Just the bare necessities required to live: sustenance, a bed, and a shower. Whatever else was in the house, he could care less as someone else used the space. House maintenance fell to his younger brother, Yule. He felt terrible that he wasn't able to provide much for the two, so much so that Yule had to get a part-time job himself while he's in high school.

Life is cruel.

Noel's fingertips brushed against ice covered metal as he went up some stairs. Winter is colder than usual this year. The cities actually had snow because of the large dip in temperature, a rare occurrence with pollution being rampant. He has been told that snow is white, pretty, and fluffy. Well, they are definitely wrong. Most of the snow he has been stepping in is slush, a mix of melted snow and pure snow combining to form a mess. Oh, and the black ice he absolutely hates as well. Slipping and falling is not great when one is late for work. He learned that the hard way.

After trudging through an endless amount of slush and nearly slipping on black ice, he arrived at his apartment. His ice-cold fingers fumbles through his pockets for a key and nearly drops it because of how cold the piece of metal is. Noel shakes his head at his clumsiness and inserts the key into the keyhole and turns it to the right.

"Welcome home," Yule calls out as his head peeks out from the doorway to a small kitchen. He must have heard the door unlocking.

"Yu, you've gotten really good at knowing when I come back," Noel said, entering the room his younger brother is in. Yule walked slower than usual today causing the red haired man to be mildly concerned.

Yule gave him a small smile, but something about the action seems to be off. "It's not hard. The door hinges makes this loud creaky sound when anyone opens it."

"Ah, I see," he said trying to disguise the fact that he caught onto his brother's change from his usual cheerfulness. Yule nods while Noel takes a seat on one of the wooden stools. Noel blinks at the odd deformed lump on a frying pan. "Um... What were you cooking?"

"...That was suppose to be a steak."

Noel sighs, but the corners of his lips curves up. "Just... Let me, all right?" He takes the pan from his younger brother and dumps the lump of burnt cow's flesh out into a garbage can. Yule stares at him meanwhile, tears forming in his eyes. He fidgets and plays with the hem of his shirt. "Yu? What's the matter-"

"...They called," Yule suddenly interrupts. Noel's eyes widened. No. This couldn't be happening. He thought that he had convinced them at the airport a week earlier. "Aunt Lucia says that she and Uncle Jules decided to take me away tomorrow to go back home with them. They know that you can't take care of me, but I... I don't want to go!"

Noel stood there in shock, dropping the pan in the process. Metal meets wood as the pan finally slams onto the floor. He wasn't sure what to do with this information. He tried convincing them before that he is the only one able to take care of him properly since he is the only real family he has left. Yule is the world to him. The reason why he is enslaving himself to his employer, Joja, and letting life trample all over him. Yule is his hope, the only reason he is living in the first place. Without him, he wouldn't even be standing here today.

But... At the same time...

He would be better off with their relatives. He could live the life of a teenager. Not forced to work at a part-time job for a paycheck and being pushed into adulthood too quickly. He would have a warm family with a mother and father figure, something that he couldn't provide for since the death of their parents a few years ago.

"...Why aren't you saying anything...? D-Don't you care...?" Yule asks, the tears gathering at the corner of his eyes finally breaking the dam. Noel wipes away the tears with a thumb, looking at his younger brother directly into emerald green eyes.

"I do. I really do... That's why..."

Yule's teary eyes widened. "No! I don't want that! You can't let them take me!"

"It will be temporary. Once I can support you... I'll... come back for you, I promise," Noel said. He wraps his arms around the shorter teenager and holds him there as Yule sobs into his shirt. He's warm, unlike the cold air outside in that bleak and dark world. Noel tries to memorize whatever he could of this moment.

After all, it's likely that he may never see him again...

* * *

 _Cut! That's the first chapter done! Sorry for the cliff hanger, but thank you for reading my obviously terrible writing. It really makes me happy that I have entertained someone with my writing. If any of you have any critique (be harsh. I need it.), feel free to tell me. I want to improve my writing skills, so any tips would be appreciated! I feel like I was way too sarcastic while writing this chapter haha. Wanted to try my hand at humor, but I probably won't be like this again (I think). Wrote this up in a day as well, so uh... It's probably rushed in some places. Though this is really just a chapter on some of Noel's backstory and I'm sure you all are bored...?_

 _I know it's odd to have an OC/OC pairing for a fan fiction, especially here in the Stardew Valley fandom. Still, I hope that the concept isn't so out of whack. I feel like with Stardew Valley it's easy to make new NPCs and bachelors/bachelorettes if that makes any sense...? Meh, I'm probably rambling... I'll stop now._

 _October 25, 2017: Edited for tenses! Thank you for the heads-up, ChocolateTeapot!_


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